The development of the LEADER® system by New York Air Brake stems from early work done in the field of train simulation for accident investigations and operations planning. This technology was initially developed as an office application and has now moved to being an onboard, embedded application. LEADER® system simulates the entire train movement in real time and with its look-ahead technology, can predict the train dynamics on a forward looking basis. This capability is used to provide the engineer with “driver assist prompts” in order to optimize the train handling with respect to in train forces, fuel economy, standard operating practices and time to destination. These parameters are weighted according to the requirements of the client railroad. An explanation of the LEADER® system is found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,587,764.
The development of locomotive remote control technology in the early 1980's was based on the concept of using the computational power of an on board computer to replace the knowledge and expertise of a locomotive engineer operating a locomotive in railroad hump and flat yard applications. This so called “engineer-in-a-box” concept was accepted by the railroad industry and the government regulators largely.
Moving a train outside of the hump and flat yards requires an additional level of expertise to deal with train control and train dynamics issues. In order to continue respecting the division of labor within the railroad the “engineer-in-a-box” needs to be more sophisticated to deal with these new situations.
The powerful simulation and computational capabilities that have been developed for the LEADER® system are particularly well suited for this task. The LEADER® system is able to simulate the train operation and dynamics in real time and provide a locomotive engineer with command prompts to optimize the control of the train. The LEADER® system can be extended to have a “cruise control” feature that interfaces directly with the controls on the locomotive in order to control the speed of the train. This same technology can be used to relieve a locomotive remote control operator RCO of the expertise required to handle the train through complex undulating territory. Commands are generated by the LEADER® system and enacted by the RCL system so that the RCO simply needs to indicate the desired speed and stop location for the train.
Critical to the success of this LEADER® mode of operation will be the human-to-machine interface HMI that allows the RCO to interact with the system in a manner that will clearly indicate his intentions for the move and yet not distract the RCO from the primary duties of monitoring the wayside signals, negotiating routing and observing that the track remains clear.
Speed control devices for trains with operator interface and safe guards are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,181,943. Also, the display of stopping a distance for emergency brake application, full service brake application or a selectable brake application is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,744,707. Although bits and piece have been known, a more complete system is required.
The present disclosure is directed to a locomotive controller including an input device, a display and a processor for driving the display and receiving inputs from the input device. Software in the processor determines and drives the display to show a location of a train on a track and indicia of the location on the track of stopping distances for one of an emergency brake application, a full service brake application and at least one controlled stop brake application.
The controller includes an output and the processor provides at the output one of the brake applications selected by inputs from the input device. The processor may also provide at the output a creep speed signal selected by a creep input from the input device. The processor may determine the stopping distances from a requested speed input from the input device and drives the display to show the speed inputted.
The processor may determine and drive the display to show the current speed of the train and determines the stopping distances from the current speed. The processor determines the stopping distances from a maximum speed input from the input device and drives the display to show the maximum speed inputted.
The processor may determine and drive the display to show the indicia on the track of stopping distances relative to the present location of the train on the track for an emergency brake application, a full service brake application and a controlled stop brake application. Alternatively, the processor may determine and drive the display to show indicia on the track of stopping distances relative to an inputted stopping location on the track for an emergency brake application, a full service brake application and a controlled stop brake application.
The processor removes the stopping distance indicia or does not display the stopping distance indicia if the train is past the location of the indicia on the track.
The controller includes a brake control and a traction control (propulsion and dynamic braking) responsive to signal at the output to control the brakes and propulsion of the locomotive. The controller may be a portable RCL device and the output is wirelessly connected to the brake control and the traction control of the locomotive.
The present disclosure is also directed to a locomotive controller including an input device, an output, a display and a processor for receiving inputs from the input device, driving the display and providing outputs on the output. Software in the processor provides at the output braking and traction signals to achieve a creep speed signal selected by a creep input from the input device.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure may be better understood and appreciated from the following detailed description of the embodiments thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings.